A single statistic can increase public support for traffic safety laws

October 8, 2014

Awareness of a single statistic can change public attitudes regarding the need for certain traffic laws according to a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The researchers surveyed 2,397 adults across the nation concerning their opinion (for or against) of four separate traffic safety laws – mandatory use of bicycle helmets for children under 16, the use of red-light cameras in school zones, mandatory ignition interlock installation for people convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) and a requirement that in-vehicle information entertainment systems be disabled when a car is moving.

After tabulating the results, the respondents were given a statistic showing the injury risk associated with the law or the ability of the law to reduce those injuries. They were then given another survey on their attitudes toward the laws. After viewing the statistics, the number of respondents showing support for the laws increased dramatically.

In the first survey a majority of respondents reported that they were supportive or strongly supportive of the laws:

74.8 percent favored mandatory use of bicycle helmets for children under 16

74.4 percent favored mandatory ignition interlock installation for people convicted of driving under the influence (DUI)

61.4 requirement that in-vehicle information entertainment systems be disabled when a car is moving.

58 percent favored use of red-light cameras in school zones

After receiving statistic showing the law’s effectiveness in preventing injuries, respondents showing support for the laws increased by:

30.7 percent for requirement that in-vehicle information entertainment systems be disabled when a car is moving.

22.2 percent for use of red-light cameras in school zones

20 percent for mandatory use of bicycle helmets for children under 16

20 percent for mandatory ignition interlock installation for people convicted of driving under the influence (DUI)

State legislators are often wary of enacting new traffic safety laws because they feel that the public won’t support the measure. However, in many cases, either the legislators have failed to properly gauge public support or those in favor of the law have failed to make their voices heard.